fix: correct traceroute path orientation when building graph edges

A completed traceroute is observed as a response packet, whose from/to are
reversed with respect to the path being traced: `to` is the node that started
the traceroute and `from` is the node that answered. Meshview assembled paths
as [from, *route, to], so both endpoint-adjacent edges were wrong for every
completed traceroute with at least one intermediate hop. Because the false
edges always attach to the endpoints, a busy initiator or gateway accumulated
false direct links to every remote target it ever traced.

Confirmed against TraceRouteModule::alterReceivedProtobuf, which renders a
response as printRoute(r, p.to, p.from, false), against the meshtastic python
CLI, which starts the forward path at p["to"] and the return path at p["from"],
and against real recorded traceroutes where a request's route[] is a prefix of
the matching response's route[].

Add meshview/traceroute.py and use it from /api/edges, /api/traceroute and
graph_traceroute, which had three separate copies of this logic that had all
drifted. /api/traceroute also gains initiator/target so the traceroute page
stops re-deriving the endpoints itself, which is where a fourth copy lived.

While in /api/edges, skip the NODENUM_BROADCAST placeholders that
insertUnknownHops() writes into route[] (they became a pseudo-node hub in the
graph) and guard against the (gateway, gateway) self edge that
graph_traceroute already guarded against.

docs/API_Documentation.md

@@ -203,6 +203,10 @@ Returns network edges (connections between nodes) based on traceroutes and neigh
 Traceroute edges are collected over the last 12 hours. Neighbor edges are based on
 port 71 packets.
 
+A completed traceroute is observed as a response packet, whose `from`/`to` are reversed
+with respect to the traced path, so edges are built as `to -> route[] -> from`. Unknown
+hop placeholders (`0xFFFFFFFF`) are skipped.
+
 Query Parameters
 - `type` (optional, string): `traceroute` or `neighbor`. If omitted, returns both.
 - `node_id` (optional, int): Filter edges to only those touching a node.
@@ -324,13 +328,21 @@ Returns traceroute details and derived paths for a packet.
 Path Parameters
 - `packet_id` (required, int): Packet ID.
 
+A completed traceroute is observed as a response packet, whose `from`/`to` are reversed
+with respect to the traced path. `initiator` and `target` resolve this: the forward path
+runs `initiator -> forward_hops -> target` and the return path runs
+`target -> reverse_hops -> initiator`, in both directions of travel. `forward_hops` and
+`reverse_hops` contain only the intermediate hops, never the endpoints.
+
 Response Example
 ```json
 {
   "packet": {
     "id": 123,
-    "from": 111,
+    "from": 222,
-    "to": 222,
+    "to": 111,
+    "initiator": 111,
+    "target": 222,
     "channel": "main"
   },
   "traceroute_packets": [
@@ -338,19 +350,20 @@ Response Example
       "index": 0,
       "gateway_node_id": 333,
       "done": true,
-      "forward_hops": [111, 444, 222],
+      "forward_hops": [444, 555],
-      "reverse_hops": [222, 444, 111]
+      "reverse_hops": [555, 444]
     }
   ],
   "unique_forward_paths": [
-    { "path": [111, 444, 222], "count": 2 }
+    { "path": [444, 555], "count": 2 }
   ],
   "unique_reverse_paths": [
-    [222, 444, 111]
+    [555, 444]
   ],
-  "winning_paths": [
+  "winning_paths": {
-    [111, 444, 222]
+    "forward": [[111, 444, 555, 222]],
-  ]
+    "reverse": [[222, 555, 444, 111]]
+  }
 }
 ```
 

meshview/templates/traceroute.html

@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ function uniqueForwardPaths(data, originId, targetId) {
 
 function uniqueReversePaths(data, originId, targetId) {
     return (data?.unique_reverse_paths || [])
-        .map(path => addMissingEndpoints(path || [], targetId, null))
+        .map(path => addMissingEndpoints(path || [], targetId, originId))
         .filter(path => path.length > 1);
 }
 
@@ -157,8 +157,9 @@ async function loadTraceroute() {
     const nodes = new Map();
     const edges = [];
 
-    const originId = data?.packet?.from != null ? String(data.packet.from) : null;
+    // A response packet carries from/to reversed, so use the endpoints the API resolved.
-    const targetId = data?.packet?.to != null ? String(data.packet.to) : null;
+    const originId = data?.packet?.initiator != null ? String(data.packet.initiator) : null;
+    const targetId = data?.packet?.target != null ? String(data.packet.target) : null;
     const forwardPaths = (data?.winning_paths?.forward || []).map(path => path.map(id => String(id)));
     const reversePaths = (data?.winning_paths?.reverse || []).map(path => path.map(id => String(id)));
     const winningPathKeys = new Set([

meshview/traceroute.py

@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+"""Assemble node paths from Meshtastic RouteDiscovery payloads.
+
+A traceroute response carries the endpoints reversed with respect to the path
+being traced: `to` is the node that started the traceroute and `from` is the node
+that answered. Only the response direction is affected, so both orientations are
+handled here rather than at each call site.
+"""
+
+# Firmware inserts this into route[] as a placeholder for a hop it could not identify.
+NODENUM_BROADCAST = 0xFFFFFFFF
+
+
+def strip_unknown_hops(hops):
+    return [hop for hop in hops if hop != NODENUM_BROADCAST]
+
+
+def forward_path(from_node_id, to_node_id, hops, done, gateway_node_id=None):
+    """Path towards the traced node, starting at the node that began the traceroute."""
+    if done:
+        return [node for node in (to_node_id, *hops, from_node_id) if node is not None]
+
+    path = [node for node in (from_node_id, *hops) if node is not None]
+    # Some nodes add themselves to the route before uplinking.
+    if gateway_node_id is not None and (not path or path[-1] != gateway_node_id):
+        path.append(gateway_node_id)
+    return path
+
+
+def return_path(from_node_id, to_node_id, hops):
+    """Path back from the traced node, starting at the node that answered."""
+    return [node for node in (from_node_id, *hops, to_node_id) if node is not None]
+
+
+def endpoints(from_node_id, to_node_id, done):
+    """The (initiator, target) of the traceroute, regardless of packet direction."""
+    if done:
+        return to_node_id, from_node_id
+    return from_node_id, to_node_id

meshview/web.py

@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ from jinja2 import Environment, PackageLoader, Undefined, select_autoescape
 from markupsafe import Markup
 
 from meshtastic.protobuf.portnums_pb2 import PortNum
-from meshview import config, database, decode_payload, migrations, models, store
+from meshview import config, database, decode_payload, migrations, models, store, traceroute
 from meshview.__version__ import (
     __version_string__,
 )
@@ -395,14 +395,17 @@ async def graph_traceroute(request):
         route = decode_payload.decode_payload(PortNum.TRACEROUTE_APP, tr.route)
         if route is None:
             continue
-        path = [packet.from_node_id]
+        path = traceroute.forward_path(
-        path.extend(route.route)
+            packet.from_node_id,
+            packet.to_node_id,
+            route.route,
+            tr.done,
+            tr.gateway_node_id,
+        )
+        if not path:
+            continue
         if tr.done:
-            dest = packet.to_node_id
+            dest = path[-1]
-            path.append(packet.to_node_id)
-        elif path[-1] != tr.gateway_node_id:
-            # It seems some nodes add them self to the list before uplinking
-            path.append(tr.gateway_node_id)
 
         if not tr.done and tr.gateway_node_id not in node_seen_time and tr.import_time_us:
             node_seen_time[path[-1]] = tr.import_time_us

meshview/web_api/api.py

@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ from aiohttp import web
 from sqlalchemy import func, select
 
 from meshtastic.protobuf.portnums_pb2 import PortNum
-from meshview import database, decode_payload, store
+from meshview import database, decode_payload, store, traceroute
 from meshview.__version__ import __version__, _git_revision_short, get_version_info
 from meshview.config import CONFIG
 from meshview.models import DailySnapshot, Node
@@ -630,8 +630,13 @@ async def api_edges(request):
             if route is None or tr.packet is None:
                 continue
 
-            path = [tr.packet.from_node_id] + list(route.route)
+            path = traceroute.forward_path(
-            path.append(tr.packet.to_node_id if tr.done else tr.gateway_node_id)
+                tr.packet.from_node_id,
+                tr.packet.to_node_id,
+                traceroute.strip_unknown_hops(route.route),
+                tr.done,
+                tr.gateway_node_id,
+            )
 
             for a, b in zip(path, path[1:], strict=False):
                 if (a, b) not in edges:
@@ -989,21 +994,16 @@ async def api_traceroute(request):
 
     from_node_id = packet.from_node_id
     to_node_id = packet.to_node_id
-    winning_forward_with_endpoints = []
+    # Winning paths are only built from responses, which carry the endpoints reversed.
-    for path in set(winning_forward_paths):
+    winning_forward_with_endpoints = [
-        full_path = list(path)
+        traceroute.forward_path(from_node_id, to_node_id, path, done=True)
-        if to_node_id is not None and (not full_path or full_path[-1] != to_node_id):
+        for path in set(winning_forward_paths)
-            full_path = [to_node_id, *full_path]
+    ]
-        if from_node_id is not None and (not full_path or full_path[-1] != from_node_id):
-            full_path = [*full_path, from_node_id]
-        winning_forward_with_endpoints.append(full_path)
 
-    winning_reverse_with_endpoints = []
+    winning_reverse_with_endpoints = [
-    for path in set(winning_reverse_paths):
+        traceroute.return_path(from_node_id, to_node_id, path)
-        full_path = list(path)
+        for path in set(winning_reverse_paths)
-        if to_node_id is not None and (not full_path or full_path[0] != to_node_id):
+    ]
-            full_path = [to_node_id, *full_path]
-        winning_reverse_with_endpoints.append(full_path)
 
     winning_paths_json = {
         "forward": winning_forward_with_endpoints,
@@ -1013,12 +1013,17 @@ async def api_traceroute(request):
     # --------------------------------------------
     # Final API output
     # --------------------------------------------
+    initiator, target = traceroute.endpoints(
+        from_node_id, to_node_id, any(tr["done"] for tr in tr_groups)
+    )
     return web.json_response(
         {
             "packet": {
                 "id": packet.id,
                 "from": packet.from_node_id,
                 "to": packet.to_node_id,
+                "initiator": initiator,
+                "target": target,
                 "channel": packet.channel,
             },
             "traceroute_packets": tr_groups,